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Scientists have brought to light the spread of dairy farming in Europe and the development of milk tolerance in adult humans. It was after the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to that of a settled farming culture in the Neolithic period that dairy-related animal husbandry first evolved, and this practice spread from the Middle East to all of Europe.
The processing of milk to make cheese and yogurt contributed significantly to the development of dairy farming, as this represented a way of reducing the lactose content of fresh milk to tolerable levels, making a valuable foodstuff available to the human population. Until 8,000 years ago, humans were only able to digest lactose, a form of sugar present in fresh milk, during childhood because as adults they lost the ability to produce endogenous lactase, the enzyme required to break down lactose. Shortly before the first farmers settled in Europe, a genetic mutation occurred in humans that resulted in the ability to produce lactase throughout their lives. Increasing numbers of adults in Central and Northern Europe have since been able to drink and digest milk.
"This two-step milk revolution may have been a prime factor in allowing bands of farmers and herders from the south to sweep through Europe and displace the hunter-gatherer cultures that had lived there for millennia," specifies the article in Nature with reference to the LeCHE project. Since 2009, this EU initial training network involving 12 postgraduate students and their mentors from different disciplines, i.e., anthropology, archeology, chemistry, and genetics, has been looking at the role played by milk, cheese, and yogurt in the early colonization of Europe and has published numerous important articles on the subject.
Anthropologist Professor Joachim Burger of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) was substantially involved in the establishment of the EU project and its research activities. "To appreciate the significance of our findings, it is important to realize that a major proportion of present-day central and northern Europeans descend from just a small group of Neolithic farmers who happened to be able to digest fresh milk, even after weaning," explained Burger. His team investigated the phenomenon of lactase persistence, i.e., the ability to break down milk sugar, using skeletons from the Neolithic. "Among the most exciting results obtained by the LeCHE group were the detection of milk fat residues in numerous Neolithic pottery remains and the ability to model the spread of positive selection of lactase persistence," said Burger.
Just 5,000 years ago, lactase persistence was almost non-existent among populations in which its modern prevalence is greater than 60 percent. The researchers assume that extensive positive selection and recurrent waves of migration were responsible for this development, which -- in evolutionary terms -- took place extremely rapidly.
Burger has now initiated an additional EU project entitled BEAN (Bridging the European and Anatolian Neolithic) to investigate the origins of the first Europeans to settle in the Balkans and western Anatolia. Adam Powell, a mathematician and population geneticist based in London, will be contributing his skills as a modeler and statistician to the team of Mainz anthropologists. To better understand the actual world in which the early farmers lived, the BEAN researchers recently visited archaeological sites in western Anatolia on a ten-day excursion. "It became very clear to us there that the west of present-day Turkey as well as the Balkans represent two key regions when it comes to the history of the population of Europe over the past 10,000 years," stated Burger.
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Adamus®Saint-Germain - Mistrz, anioł, profesor i nauczyciel Karmazynowego Koła, który dostarcza wiadomości i naucza poprzez Geoffreya Hoppe.
Ahmyo™ - Absolute, unconditional trust in self; understanding that everything is for your highest good and that you are the creator of your reality; accepting full responsibility for yourself and going beyond such things as fate, destiny, karma, angels and guides.
Anayatron - The communication network that all energy particles use to communicate with all other energy particles, particularly within the Body of Consciousness.
Angel - A souled being, birthed from the original Oneness, created by the love of Spirit.
Anost - The state of imbalance to the light. "The imbalance to the light, or anost, is a denial of the dark. It is a denial of half of yourself, if not more." ~ Tobias (pronounced uh-nahst)
Ascended Master - A souled being who has completed their journey of lifetimes on Earth, accepted their own sovereignty and fully integrated every part and expression of their soul in complete love and acceptance.
Ascension - The state of being wholly and completely in acceptance and love for yourself without reservation, having let go of all limitations of the human existence and being fully integrated with every part of Self.
Aspects (Aspectology™) - Different roles or identities we as Creator Beings have used to answer the question: Who Am I? We create aspects of ourselves to meet situations in this lifetime (e.g. the child, the parent, the business owner, the healer, etc). We also have many other aspects from past lives, from dreams and from the multidimensional realms. When aspects become "stuck" they can cause chaos and confusion as they move in and out of consciousness. However, through conscious choice we can welcome these aspects back home within ourselves and become fully integrated.
Atlantis - The second era of Earth experience, coming after the Lemurian era. Atlanteans were very communal by nature and did extensive work to standardize the human mind and body.
Body of Consciousness - A human's fully integrated physical body, mind, intelligence, awareness, feelings and spirit.
Bon - The holographic 'fabric' of TimeSpace upon which reality is projected. It is prevalent everywhere consciousness is. Plasma comes from Bon, and from plasma come ions, neutrons, etc. Bon is the stage or screen where consciousness can experience itself.
Cauldre - The name Tobias and Adamus call Geoffrey Hoppe. This is not his "spirit name," rather a nickname used. (pronounced Ka-ool'-dra)
Channeling - When a non-physical entity or angel speaks through a human. The human translates the entity's "thought/energy packets" into words for others to hear or read.
Compassion - Total acceptance and allowing of what is; including unconditional love for self, and absolute honor for the path and choices of others.
Conscious Breathing - The acknowledgment and full acceptance of life, consciously choosing to bring life force energies into one's human reality.
Consciousness - Awareness or expansiveness. Consciousness activates energy and energy potentials all around you.
Crimson Circle - The group of humans involved in this spiritual journey, who are also here as teachers to others on the journey.
Crimson Council - A celestial teaching order that includes Tobias, Adamus Saint-Germain, Kuthumi lal Singh, and other angels who are assisting us on our journey.
Dei Un Gnost - See "Gnost" (pronounced day-oon-nost)
Dimensions - Unique particles of consciousness created by souled beings that can have nearly any variation of properties. They can intersect and interact with other dimensions and are not linear, hierarchical or numbered.
DreamWalk® - An interdimensional journey of consciousness where the human or angelic guide stands in honor and compassion while illuminating the way for those who choose to experience the journey.
Ego - "Derived from your Latin word meaning "I". I-go. The ego was developed when you crossed through the Wall of Fire. It created a sense of identity for you. You spend so much time battling your ego, but it is an integral part of you. It is your one connection back to Home. The ego is transforming and changing. Instead of "I go" you are becoming "I Am."" ~ Tobias
Enlightenment - The realization of being wholly and completely in acceptance and love for yourself without reservation, having let go of all limitations of the human existence and fully integrated with every part of Self.
Facet - A unique and conscious expression of the soul, an act of consciousness. When fully integrated, every aspect becomes a facet.
First Circle - Home, the original existence of God or Oneness, also referred to as the First Creation. It is where we came from before embarking on this journey for Spirit.
Fruit of the Rose - A term used to describe the reminder we left for ourselves along our path or journey to Awakening. Ultimately we will find or stumble upon this reminder and rediscover the need to wake up, to remember that we are a Master. The Fruit of the Rose reminds us that we're just playing this game of being a human, that "human" is only a small part of who we really are.
Gaia - The grand angel that agreed to come, breathe life into this rock and stay with it until the humans are ready to accept the responsibility for the care of Earth.
Gnost - Our "creative solution," gnost is the part of us that solves problems beyond the capabilities of the mind. Gnost is reawakening now after being dormant for a long time. (variant of "Dei Un Gnost")
God - Spirit or Source from which we came and which is also within us at the core; the divine creative essence within.
Home - The First Circle of creation; the original Oneness from which we came.
I Am - Your full sovereign Self, the You that you have always been which originated directly from the original Oneness of Home.
Imagination - The essence of creation energy, the beginning of all manifestation, imagination is not mental "visualization" but rather creative feeling and sensing.
'It doesn't Matter' - A phrase introduced by Tobias indicating that one already is whatever one desires and is now just going through the experience of getting there.
Kaikho™ - The strong inner desire and longing for life. It is within you, an inner truth, like a roaring lion, a deep passion that will have nothing else other than its own fulfillment. It is not the greed of human nature or simply wanting a better life. Kaikho is wanting absolute freedom or not to live at all.
Kasama™ - Destiny of the soul; the soul's timeless realization that the future, including its enlightenment, is already here. (Related to the word "kismet.")
Kharisma - The grace from within. The I Am in expression. The grace of the soul. Kharisma is the gift of grace, the authentic part of you that just wanted to be felt.
Kuthumi lal Singh - An ascended master in the non-physical reams who has had many lifetimes on Earth and delivers messages through Geoffrey Hoppe and many others.
Kyeper ("kay-pear") - According to Adamus an ancient Egyptian word, associated with the scarab or dung beetle, meaning creation, birth, creativity, bringing to life. It comes from the original understanding of Spirit, the divine creativity of consciousness. Kyeper: Spirit in expression, in being.
Lemuria - The first era of Earth experience when angels first learned how to descend their energy and embody into matter.
Makyo - Spiritual verbiage and platitudes that distract from the true experience of Self. Adamus also describes this as spiritual bullshit.
Merabh™ - A non-linear and non-mental energy movement that combines words, music and perhaps physical movement to create a quantum consciousness change.
Metatron - An archangel and member of the Order of the Arc. In 2007 Metatron took on the new name of "Yoham," which means "Your voice in Spirit."
Mirage - A small, simple personal ceremony that is done to acknowledge an "aha" moment or an experienced realization; it serves to ground the consciousness shift into your human reality.
Namaste - An acknowledgment of the God within one to the God within another.
Near Earth Realms - The non-physical realms surrounding Earth where the essence of many beings goes between lifetimes. It is a layer of consciousness closely related to Earth.
New Earth - A non-physical dimension with attributes of the physical Earth that serves as a library of Earth wisdom and experiences, and as a classroom for angels preparing to come to Earth for the first time.
New Energy - The next evolution of energy that allows the integration of duality, including our divine nature and our human nature. While the current energy is vibrational, new energy is expansional in all directions at the same time.
Nhahyu™ - A particular element of consciousness; used to describe consciousness, awareness, sensitivity and feelings. Nhahyu also means to dive into feelings, to experience them fully, and then let them go; wholly-embodied-and-fully-released. (pronounced nah-you)
Oh-Be-Ahn - An ancient greeting and blessing between time travelers as they encounter one another on their journeys. It means "I honor you for the journey, no matter where you are."
Oneness - The original Home, All That Was.
Order of the Arc (Archangels) - Created as a unified consensus of all energies and all angels, including ones considered both light and dark. All angels created this Order of the Arc to move to the next level of understanding and energy resolution.
Pakauwah™ - A totem or spirit animal created by you as an extension of your own essence to support your human experience.
Point of Separation - A moment when reality shifts from one cycle or spiral of experience to the next.
Processing - Examining, revisiting, reliving and analyzing events from the past in an effort to find healing and resolution; the antithesis of simple acceptance and integration.
Quantum Leap - Tobias said that on September 18, 2007 humanity experienced a quantum leap in consciousness, a time where everything moves at such a fast rate that consciousness no longer follows the old linear path. Instead, the quantum leap in consciousness allows for a new level of creativity, invention, scientific discovery and personal transformation.
Sam - A pseudonym for the current Earthly incarnation of Tobias, which he fully embodied on July 19, 2009.
Second Circle - All of creation, everything outside of the First Circle, both physical and non-physical, including the human realms. Also referred to as the Second Creation.
Sensual - Using all the senses to savor and relish the experience of life.
Sha-dhar™ - To infuse or breathe life into life. Also to infuse yourself into your life.
Shasat - The powerless life; releasing all need for power, power games, struggle, victimhood, etc; the state of living in total allowing without the need for power.
Shaumbra™ - The name used by Tobias and others for the group of humans going through the awakening process. Tobias claims the term originated during the times of Yeshua ben Joseph (Jesus), when people – many of them Essenes – would gather for secret spiritual meetings. Loosely translated in old Hebrew, the first portion of the word Shaumbra is pronounced "shau-home." "Shau-home" means home or family. The second portion of the term is "ba-rah," which means journey and mission. When these terms are put together, it is "shau-home-ba-rah" which means family that is on a journey and experiencing together. Tobias says that in the biblical times, a "shaumbra" was also a scarf or shawl that was worn by either male or female. It was a distinctive crimson color that let the others know it was time to meet. (pronounced Shom-bra)
Shoud - During a Shoud, the spiritual essence of the group of listeners is gathered together by a human or a non-physical being such as Tobias. The collective message of the group is then communicated back to the group via the channeler. In simplified terms, the audience is really listening to their own inner selves.
Souled Beings - When Spirit burst forth into expression, all souls came into being. Every souled being contains within itself the creative essence and sovereign energy of the Source in a unique and personal expression.
Source - Spirit, the source of life within you, the divine energy.
Spirit - Also called God, Source or the Eternal One, the divine spark that is within each souled being.
Standard - A Standard, as in "being a Standard of the New Energy," is a guiding light, one who illuminates potentials for others. A Standard is also a teacher who shares what they have learned through their own experiences. By their own example, a Standard inspires others to see what can be done.
Temples of Tien - A special place in Atlantis where Shaumbra first gathered to study energy. Many Shaumbra know each other from their times of working together in the temples.
Third Circle - The energy or essence of the totally sovereign self, complete unto itself with need of nothing from the outside. Your own Third Circle is your state of ascension, your full and complete sovereignty.
Tobias - Featured in the apocryphal (biblical) Book of Tobit, Tobias is an angelic being from the spiritual teaching group called the Crimson Council. Tobias channeled public messages from August 21, 1999 through July 19, 2009, and is now incarnate in physical body on Earth. Tobias' messages through Mr. Hoppe were lovingly given to encourage humans to accept their inner divine essence.
True Self or Higher Self - Our divine essence which is now awakening within us. The "divine angel within."
Void - The nothingness outside of Home. After leaving Home, angels found themselves in the Void where nothing existed, not even darkness. Using consciousness and energy, the angelic beings created many physical and non-physical realms out of the Void.
Wall of Fire - The expansion of consciousness or knowingness beyond itself; a metaphor for the "doorway" leading from Home into the Void. The zone we crossed through going from the First Circle to the Second Circle.
Yeshua ben Joseph - Also known as Jesus; a human manifestation of the collective Christ Consciousness, brought to Earth by those who understood that it was time for the divine to meld with the human on Earth.
Yoham - According to Tobias, Yo-ham is "the name of you, God. Human divine." It is also the new name of the archangel formerly known as Metatron, "your voice in spirit." In Letter to Awakening Humans (June 7, 2008) Tobias said, "Metatron was known as your voice in spirit and now Yoham is known as your spirit in this reality, your spirit in the material practice, your spirit present in your life today."
"Yoham" is also the name of the musical group consisting of Gerhard Fankhauser, Einat Gilboa and Amir Ya'acoby. A very popular group at Crimson Circle events, Yoham has collaborated on several musical productions with Tobias, Adamus, Kuthumi and Geoffrey Hoppe.

subset: commoncrawl


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Army Dismissals for Mental Health, Misconduct Rise
Related NPR Stories
New Pentagon figures released to NPR show that since the United States invaded Iraq, officers have kicked out far more troops for having behavior issues that are potentially linked to post-traumatic stress disorder than they did before the war.
The numbers raise troubling questions about how the military is handling mental-health issues.
NPR has reported that servicemen and women who come home with serious mental-health problems, such as PTSD, often can't get the medical treatment they need.
And some commanders, in fact, have kicked troubled troops out of the military instead of trying to help them.
Until now, NPR reports have included anecdotal evidence, because the Pentagon has not released detailed statistics.
Rise in Personality Disorder and Misconduct Dismissals
NPR asked the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps to disclose how many troops have been discharged by their commanders in recent years and why.
The Marine Corps has not provided statistics.
But an Army chart, which NPR recently received, shows that since the United States invaded Iraq:
-- Commanders have discharged almost 20 percent more soldiers for "misconduct" than they did in the same period before the war;
-- Commanders have discharged more than twice as many soldiers for "drug abuse" (a subset of the "misconduct" category);
-- Commanders have discharged almost 40 percent more soldiers for "personality disorder."
In all, the Army has kicked out more than 28,000 soldiers since the war in Iraq began on the grounds of personality disorder and misconduct.
Those statistics "trouble me," says Stephen Xenakis, a psychiatrist and retired brigadier general who used to help run the Army medical system.
"It raises questions," he says. "Are we doing the right thing by the soldiers?"
Behaviors Linked to PTSD
Xenakis and other mental-health specialists who work with the military say the Army's statistics seem to corroborate what many former soldiers and Marines have told NPR.
Those servicemen's and women's records show that after they came home from Iraq or Afghanistan, and were diagnosed with PTSD or other mental health disorders, they started breaking Army rules and, in some cases, the law — from not showing up for formation and going AWOL, to using illegal drugs.
Xenakis and other specialists say those kinds of behaviors are common among soldiers with mental disorders like PTSD.
"That's exactly how those problems would show up," Xenakis says. "Drinking, drugs ... (the soldiers) medicate themselves. They say 'Why should I keep my uniform all starched and neat when I just buried two of my buddies?'"
Yet, the troops NPR has interviewed had trouble getting intensive medical treatment. Instead, their commanders discharged them for "misconduct," which means the soldiers lost some or all of their military benefits.
The Army chart obtained by NPR — showing increased rates of "misconduct" and especially "drug abuse" — is consistent with those anecdotal accounts.
Personality Disorder: 'Deeply Stigmatizing Diagnosis'
Some mental-health specialists are especially worried that commanders and military medical staff are abusing the diagnosis of "personality disorder," which commanders have used to discharge some soldiers who were also diagnosed with PTSD.
Psychiatrist Jonathan Shay, who has been studying combat veterans for more than 20 years at the Department of Veterans Affairs and other institutions, criticizes the use of personality disorder partly because it's a "deeply stigmatizing diagnosis," he says.
Shay says that when the military diagnoses soldiers with personality disorder, it is saying, in effect, that fighting in the war didn't cause their mental health problems.
"It's saying, in essence, you're rotten and have been rotten since childhood," he says.
If true, Shay wonders, why didn't Army doctors diagnose such a serious and deep-rooted psychological ailment when they were recruiting the prospective soldier?
Avoiding Paying Disability Benefits?
Shay says the Army's statistics, showing that discharges for "personality disorder" have increased in recent years by almost 40 percent, suggest that the military may be abusing the diagnosis because doing so is convenient.
Under the Army's rules, it takes a commander months to expel soldiers on the grounds that they can't function due to PTSD — and the military has to pay the soldier disability benefits.
But if a psychiatrist diagnoses a solider with a "personality disorder," the base can discharge him or her in less than two weeks without paying any disability.
"It troubles me that it appears that sometimes, mental-health professionals are ready to be the willing servants of the command," Shay says.
He worries that military doctors are telling commanders, in effect, "'If you want me to get this kid out quickly, I'll do it. It doesn't matter how much I have to bend my own conscience or bend the facts to do it.'"
NPR submitted requests to five spokesmen at the Pentagon and U.S. Army to interview a top official about these issues. These requests were not granted.
Medical specialists who reviewed the statistics stress that the Army's numbers don't prove that commanders are getting rid of soldiers who developed mental-health problems in the war. But they say the figures should prompt the military to do much more research.


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[Phil] uses both his computer's speakers and a set of headphones while working at his desk, but he was growing tired of constantly having to remove the headset from his sound card in order to insert the speaker plug. He's been meaning to rig something up to make it easier to switch outputs, but never seemed to get around to it until he recently saw this LAN-enabled audio switcher we featured.
His USB-controlled switch features a single audio input and two audio outputs, which he mounted on a nicely done homemade double-sided PCB. The switch can be toggled using any terminal program, sending commands to the on-board ATtiny13A via an FT232R USB to serial UART chip.
The switch's operation is really quite simple, merely requiring [Phil] to type in the desired audio channel into the terminal. The ATiny and a small relay do the rest, directing the audio to the proper output.


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Here's a peek into my thought processes at the moment ...
I just entered Bitter Like Orange Peel into ABNA. Yay! ... bet I don't even make it through the first round.
I'm going to Canada in one month! Yay! ... but then I have to come back home and I bet I'll get depressed.
I'm running the Steinbeck Fest in Ithaca this year! Yay! ... I bet no-one turns up.
I've got this awesome new job which has blessed me with a little financial security! Yay! ... I bet they think I work too slow and find someone else.
My poetry collection is now out for $0.99 on Kindle! Yay! ... but hardly anyone reads poetry anymore, what's the point?
I've got these awesome ideas for my next novel! Yay! ... bet I'll never write it.
I just updated my website! Yay! ... bet no-one even looks at it.
I've got these amazing and supportive blog followers and friends! Yay! ... bet they're getting sick of me.
YIKES! These thoughts are pretty over-the-top, no? I love my life. Why aren't I lapping it up?
Okay ... I need to drink some happy thoughts juice. *off to seek happy thoughts juice so I don't hit the delete button and remove this post ...*


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Across the country, millions of children rely on free or reduced-priced school lunches to provide a nutritious meal every day, sometimes the only one they will receive.
So what happens when the …
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Across the country, millions of children rely on free or reduced-priced school lunches to provide a nutritious meal every day, sometimes the only one they will receive.
So what happens when the final bell rings and summer begins?
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, 21 million students receive free or reduced lunch during the school year but only 2.5 million take advantage of programs in the summer.
In March, Vilsack called for an increase in USDA Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sites across the country, naming Rhode Island as one of the five target states.
The Westbay Community Action Marketplace will partner with the Rhode Island Community Food Bank to step up to the challenge this month, by providing vacation meal boxes to registered families with listings of the nearest SFSP sites.
With support from an Our Family Foundation Grant from Stop & Shop, the Food Bank was tasked with helping to find new partners for SFSP and promote the overall program.
According to Kristen Allen, the program coordinator at the Food Bank, the vacation boxes at Westbay Marketplace will serve as "an outreach to let people know about sites."
She explained that vacation boxes would provide a weekend's worth of portion-controlled, kid-friendly food including mac-and-cheese, cups of cereal, granola bars and shelf-stable milk. Families that receive a box will also receive a flyer with information about the closest SFSP sites.
The program began on Tuesday, and in just three hours, Carol Sweeney, a Marketplace employee, said she had already handed out seven boxes.
"They are happy to get it," said Sweeney.
She explained that when someone comes in to get food from the Marketplace, she asks if the individual has any children. If they say yes and are registered as a family of two or more, Sweeney said she offers them one of the vacation boxes.
"We are giving out the boxes in communities where we have been successful finding new partners," said Allen.
Joshua Michael Corrente, Marketplace manager, explained that any family with children registered to receive food at the Marketplace would receive a vacation box.
He added that the Marketplace usually serves 1,000 families every month but currently has close to 1,300 registered for 2013. He has no record of how many of those families include children.
"Three years ago, if we did 800 families a month total, that was busy," said Corrente.
For now, the 250 vacation boxes are only going to be handed out in June. Allen explained vacation boxes are being handed out in June because it will be during the gap between when school ends and SFSP sites start in July.
"If they expand it, we will participate," said Corrente.
Vilsack hopes that SFSP will be expanding, serving an additional 5 million students this summer.
SFSP is a federally funded program established to provide nutritious meals for children in low-income communities during the summer, according to Steve Carey, nutrition program specialist for the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE). RIDE is responsible for distributing USDA funds to registered sites.
Carey explained that to qualify as an "open site," meaning any individual 18 or younger can go and pick up a meal at a certain time, the surrounding community, determined by the closest school, must have at least 50 percent of students enrolled in free or reduced-price lunch programs.
According to Carey, Warwick has never sponsored a SFSP site.
In the 2013 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook, Warwick has a total of 3,266 students listed as "low-income," meaning they qualify for free and reduced-price lunches. However, that is only 35 percent of the student population.
Carey explained that although Warwick is the second largest city in the state, only Oakland Beach Elementary School is considered "area-eligible," yet it does not have a sponsor to create a site.
Since Warwick does not have sites, the Marketplace will provide information about an open site at the Thundermist Health Center in West Warwick. The site is being sponsored by the West Warwick School Department, and Allen said the site would provide a late meal around 4 p.m.
Carey said the town of West Warwick is considered to be one of the six core communities in Rhode Island with a number of SFSP sites.
Allen believes that sites have reduced because recreation and park departments often sponsor them, but staffing and usage in those areas has gone down.
"More kids are enrolled in summer programs or have family members watching them," said Allen.
According to Food Research and Action Center's (FRAC) "Hunger Doesn't Take A Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2013," Rhode Island served 11.6 children through SFSP per 100 served during the school year for the month of July 2012, ranking the state 16th in the country.
For comparison, Washington, D.C. ranked first, serving 56.4 per 100, while Hawaii came in 51st, serving only 2.1 per 100.
Vilsack explained that funding for SFSP comes through federal nutrition programs, and grants can cover anything from supplies and equipment to transportation and food. Congress appropriated $434,724,000 for SFSP in FY2013 for this upcoming summer.
"I don't think I have fear of folks in Congress saying we need to cut these nutrition programs," Vilsack said. "There is a significant need here. I am not overly concerned about financial consequences. I am concerned about human consequences."
Vilsack added that SFSP helps the local economy because states are reimbursed for resources used.
According to FRAC's study, "for each day a state failed to feed a low-income child a lunch during the summer of 2012, the state lost at least $3.325 in federal SFSP funding." A chart in the report shows that had Rhode Island met the national goal of serving 40 children in the summer per 100 served during the school year in July 2012, the state would have received $941,648 in additional federal reimbursement.
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(visited by Bruce Lilley and Joshua Siame)
23-Jan-2005 -- We made a visit to the area south of 15S 29E just to see what it would look like while we were on the way to 15S 30E. The map put this point way out in the bush, far from any road, and it appeared it would be a difficult DC to visit.
Our reconnaissance seemed to confirm this as the road we found generally followed the 29E meridian, but was very bad and headed straight up into some mountains. Whether or not this or any road goes over the mountain is unknown. We quit when we almost got our vehicle stuck in a ditch... the picture doesn't show how deep the ditch is!
For an attempt at a successful visit, we would suggest a high-clearance 4x4, with a local guide for help, and you should devote all day to getting there and back if you leave from Chiyuyu.


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Termite prevention tips for homeowners to help guard against termites:
- Carefully inspect the perimeter of the home for mud tubes and rotting wood.
- Repair fascia, soffits and rotted roof shingles.
- Keep basements, attics and crawl spaces well ventilated and dry.
- Maintain a one-inch gap between soil and wood portions of the home.
- Store firewood at least 20 feet away from the house and check it for pests before bringing it indoors.
- Divert water away from the home through properly functioning downspouts and gutters.


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Rakhail Novel Episode 20 by Riaz Aqib Kohler. This novel is started in Mid of 2018 and largely liked by readers. Novel Rakhail as the name says is not yet exposed to be such harsh and contrary to its name quite different. A young girl whose brother is killed. She Decided to take revenge from Killer. Who wants to Marry her. Read Complete Novel Rakhail by Riaz Aqib.
Urdu Novels Writer Riaz Aqib Kohler is an author of Sniper Novel i.e available here in Urdu Pdf. Rakhail is Very Romantic Urdu Novel that will grab your interest in whole episode. Read here..
Rakhail Novel Episode 20
پچھلی اقساط پڑھنے کے لئے نیچے دئے گئے لنک پہ کلک کریں
Read All Episodes Here
Complete Novel Sniper All Episodes in PDF Format available at above link. if you are facing any issue in reading online you can download to your device.
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Care-Kter Quality Renovations offers a selection of remodeling, construction services, design, and renovation. We are proud to serve Houston, Texas clients. This is why we strive to deliver outstanding residential remodeling and renovation services. We have experienced home remodeling and renovation businesses in the market, and we have experience working for large and small remodels for many years.
Cypress is an unincorporated community in Harris County, Texas, United States, located completely inside the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Houston. The Cypress area is located along U.S. Highway 290 (Northwest Freeway) is twenty-four miles (35 km) northwest of Downtown Houston. The Cypress urban cluster ranks 50th in the top 100 highest-income urban areas in the United States. Large scale residential and commercial development beginning in the 1980s transformed the once rural area into one of the Houston area's largest suburban communities. == History == The recent find of a San Patrice projectile point at the Dimond Knoll site nearby on Cypress Creek attests to a human presence in the area by 7500 BC. By the early historic era, the area around present-day Cypress was populated by Atakapa and Akokisa Indian tribes, but they soon disappeared after the appearance of German settlers in the 1840s.The German heritage is most notably reflected in the names of some of the major thoroughfares of the area, such as Huffmeister and Telge Roads.
Amhurst, Bonaire, Bridgeland, Canyon Lakes West, Canyon Village At Cypress Springs, Coles Crossing, Cypress Bend, Cypress Chase, Cypress Corner, Cypress Creek Lakes, Cypress Creek Ranch, Cypress Fields, Cypress Hill, Cypress Junction, Cypress Mill Estates Com Res


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How Much Are Parents Spending on Their Children's Proms? — Dollars and Sense
High school proms are getting mighty expensive — and we're not just talking triple digits, either.
A survey done last year by Visa showed the average prom attendee spent $800 — but this year, that number is expected to climb to more than $1000.
Where does all that money go? Admission tickets, photos, limos, gowns and tuxedos, and hair and makeup for the ladies. Still, like weddings, the cost can vary dramatically by region. In the Northeast, families will spend an average of nearly $2,000 per child, while in the Midwest, it'll be closer to $700.
And it's not just the kids who want to spend the money — moms and dads sometimes use proms as a chance to show off. Consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow said, "Especially in really affluent households, the parents, in a way, use their kids to proclaim their stature to other parents. They use their kids to communicate to the community who they are."
Oddly enough, though, it's not the wealthier parents dropping the most cash. The Visa survey showed families in the $20,000-$29,999 income bracket plan to spend $2,600 on their child's prom, a whopping 10 percent or more of their annual pre-tax income. On the other hand, families in higher-income households will spend between $700 and $1,000.


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Keep the little artists in your life healthy and safe with a few simple art supply swaps and DIY fixes!
Smocks: Smocks can help preserve clothes, and reduce skin contact with chemicals from art supplies. Make sure the smock you choose is the safest: CHEJ recommends using fabric smocks to avoid PVC. Instead of buying a smock, you can use old shirts and clothing. Or if you're feeling crafty, try this DIY smock tutorial or this no-sew towel smock.
Markers: Skip the scented markers! According to the Environmental Working Group, the chemicals in marker fragrances aren't listed, so you don't know what you're inhaling when you get a whiff of scented markers. And fun packaging and smells encourage kids to sniff. Choose unscented markers instead. Also avoid permanent and dry-erase markers, which contain solvents.
Polymer clays: Polymer clays, the kind that stays soft at room temperature but you can harden it in the oven, often contain toxic PVC and phthalates. Luckily, there's a fun and easy fix: You can make your own clay out of simple kitchen staples. Here are a few clay recipes that you can try at home:
- Oven Flour Clay Recipe on About.com
- How to Make Clay on Instructables
Wash your hands: Children are much more vulnerable to ingesting chemicals from art supplies through their hands, either by touching or putting their hands in their mouths. Make sure to enforce frequent hand washing while using art supplies, and save snack time and beverages for after craft time: Eating while using art supplies is another easy way for kids to ingest chemicals from their art supplies.
Recycled crafts: Incorporate recycling into your craft projects! Your recycling bin can be full of unexpected craft materials. Here are a few recycled craft projects to get you started. What recycled or upcycled craft projects have you tried? Leave your craft ideas in the comments!
- 24 Incredible Tissue Box Crafts
- 20 Things to Do With Toilet Paper Rolls
- What Can You Make From an Egg Carton?
Additional Resources:
- Polymer Clays are a Handful of Phthalates on Healthy Child, Healthy World
- Kid Friendly Crafts with Recycled Materials on Groovy Green Livin
- How to Find Natural and Non-Toxic Art Supplies on National Geographic


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Active Hunter
Guys my wife in the Philippines lives in an area where anything can be made and quality is job one and the prices are amazing. But I have had many interests in Storm Trooper boots and also the Fett Boots. If I can get say 50 of each and the prices were right. IE much better than CA or other sites. Would there be a good interest in this? My Lovely Tarah is going to talk with the shoe makers/ leather workers where she lives and will have one made as an example. then if it looks great then we will take orders and do a run and hopefully make a great chance for the guys that cant quite afford the popular ones out there but have a boot that is better made than any of the boots we have access to. Also if this goes well then blasters and leather belts for any costume are on the agenda. PM me with any questions or also to give me any desires. Anything is possible. Nothing is to much to ask. Just give us the want list and good references and measurements and it can be done.


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Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
NEW YORK (AP) - Logic, it turns out, isn't always the way to go, at least not for Kenny Loggins.
Had he listened to that particular little voice in his head, the two-time Grammy winner with 12 platinum records would be kicking back at home right now in Santa Barbara, Calif. Instead, at 65, he's hitting the stage and studio with a whole new act and a whole new sound nearly five decades into his music career.
He's got three songs on a CD tucked inside a new "Frosty the Snowman" picture book out on Imagine, Peter Yarrow's imprint.
But he's been making serious music with the Blue Sky Riders, his country rock trio with Nashville's Gary Burr and Georgia Middleman. They have a new Christmas CD, "Finally Home," co-produced by Peter Asher and featuring a tune called "Dream" that has this line: "You take the glory days/I'll take what's on its way/No one can tell me my best days are done."
The Associated Press: How has storytelling changed for you?
Loggins: At the beginning of my career, Loggins and (Jimmy) Messina, Jimmy was my mentor. I had not done anything professionally, so it was all a period of learning and just kind of sitting back and watching, seeing how things were done. Then when I went solo I started to take what I'd learned and put it into action. No matter what phase of life you're in, it's always a learning procedure. Then when I hit this third act, as some people are calling it, I discovered that I had a pretty clear picture of the kind of thing I wanted to do for this next part of my life. ... In Dream,'
Too old to dream' became this pivotal phrase that Georgia developed into the chorus of the song, that sometimes logic doesn't win out, that the heart and the passion has got to win out.
AP: Are there similarities between your blend with Messina and your blend with Gary?
Loggins: The blend with Messina is more akin to the Everly Brothers. There's a certain nasal, edgy thing that Jimmy and I had in common. We wrote two songs together in the six years that we were together, but Loggins and Messina was Jimmy doing his thing and Kenny doing his thing and then we'd bring it together to blend it. Blue Sky Riders is very much a writing machine. We write together as a trio. Ninety-eight percent of what we have on the new record we wrote together. And we do the vocal arrangements as we're writing the songs, so it's much more of a partnership, a family. And we love and respect each other, and it's been a great ride. I hope that it holds.
AP: Part of how Blue Sky Riders has financed the group is through house parties. Are you all still doing those?
Loggins: We are doing house parties. We also play gigs now that the price of the gig has gone up enough that we can use that money. We've taken none of the money we've made, either through gigs or house parties, personally. And we were just debating today if we could take a couple of thousand individually `cause, you know, Christmas is coming and they need the dough.
AP: You've written all these songs. You've collaborated on numerous others. Are you hurting for money?
Loggins: Sometimes, yeah. The second divorce was a problem. But it's not that I'm hurting for money as much as I need to stay creative. ... When Columbia Records dropped me from the label and I flirted with the idea of retiring, I found that I was getting very depressed. And that I needed to write. I needed to record in order to stay alive, to stay in touch with my own juice, and that made me happier and therefore I became a better dad, an easier person to live with.
AP: How has the music industry changed for you? Do you find yourself being cynical about the industry as a whole?
Loggins: I think that the music industry has changed dramatically, as we know, from the mama, papa stores, you know, and getting a record played on the radio one city at a time. You know, the monolithic ownership of radio stations has homogenized the playlists now so getting on the radio is a completely different game, I'm not sure one that I will even bother playing. Radio is still powerful, but the point being that things have changed and there are new rules and new ways to play the game and so part of the fun of jumping back in the pool is to learn the new rules.
AP: What would you be doing today, what would you have done with yourself, if not music?
Loggins: I really don't know. I've thought about that a lot, as to what I would have fallen back on, you know. I actually thought about it a lot when I was 50 and considered retiring, and I just saw that it wasn't going to work, that I had been in music and songwriting since I graduated high school and so I've really learned nothing else, that I am an expert at what I do and an idiot at everything else, for better or for worse.
Follow Leanne Italie on Twitter at www.http/twitter.com/litalie
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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Sunday Morning Meditation (On-site)
Please join us for public meditation practice. Everyone is welcome, although receiving meditation instruction at least once beforehand is encouraged. We practice a mindfulness/awareness meditation technique called shamatha/vipashyana.
Our practice includes some chanting at the beginning and end of the session. People are asked not to arrive or leave during chants, but feel free to arrive and leave during silence as needed.
No charge; donations appreciated.


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Greatest Game Cosplay Ever (This Week): Pool Party Ahri, Hiccup, Yurine + More
The Greatest Game Cosplay is here to kick off summer the right way with some bombastic cosplays. We've rounded up a few costumes that look like they'd help you keep cool in the heat and some that are just plain, ol' counter-intuitive. However you feel like dressing up under the blazing sun, there's no denying that these cosplays are pretty damn cool, and that should be enough to stave off the heart. Check out the gallery below!
Are you a cosplayer or a cosplay photographer? Maybe you're both! If you have a particular cosplay or portfolio you'd like us to check out, please submit a link to John-at-ArcadeSushi.com. Additionally, if there are any cosplayers or photographers that we've highlighted that wish their works to be removed, please reach out to let us know.
Be sure to visit the excellent photographers at their respective sites to become fans and to see more of their work. All shots were taken by the talented Joseph Chi Lin, Darshelle Stevens and Anna Fischer.
Jii Desu as Hiccup (How to Train Your Dragon 2)
Ambrosia Krys as Rydia (Final Fantasy IV)
Destiny Nickelsen as Harley Quinn (Injustice: Gods Among Us)
Byndo Ghek as Wendy (Gravity Falls)
JK Cosplay as Yurine (Karas)
Vensy as Miss Fortune (League of Legends)
Jessica Nigri and Henchman Props & Cosplay as Mad Moxxi and Psycho (Borderlands)
Henchman Props & Cosplay as Psycho (Borderlands)
Lindsay Elyse as Pool Party Ahri (League of Legends)
Henchman Props & Cosplay as Vaas (Far Cry 3)


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Meet our sourdough starter. This 200-year old sourdough culture originated in Ischia (a volcanic island in the Gulf of Naples) and is used in Pizzanista!'s traditional hand-tossed pizza dough, which we make fresh daily. Around the late 1700's, it became common for the poor people around Naples to add tomato to their yeast-based flat bread, and so the pizza was born. The dish gained in popularity, and soon pizza became a tourist attraction as visitors flocked to Naples to try the local specialty.
Ischia sourdough in particular tends to be more tart than other sourdough starter cultures. It contains wild yeast for leavening, and lactobacilli bacteria to create the exquisite sourdough flavor through the fermentation process. Upon activation (see our incubation unit below), a stable symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast is formed in the flour and water mixture. This living organism is fed once a day, then bubbles up, grows and ferments to create the tasty, unique flavor and texture of our pizza crust!


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Will WCU ever see Kimmel pledge fulfilled?
Six years ago, amid great fanfare, Joe Kimmel pledged $6.9-million dollars to Western Carolina University.
Based on that pledge, with payments expected to come in over an eight-year period, WCU went forward with a new school: the Joe W. Kimmel School of Construction Management, Engineering, and Technology.
Kimmel's ability to pay WCU, however, abruptly ended in December 2009, when his company, Asheville-based Kimmel & Associates, went into bankruptcy. He stopped at $1.43 million — more than $5 million short of the original pledge to WCU.
The date of the last payment isn't known. WCU would not release the payment schedule.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy afforded Kimmel and his wife, Cynthia, legal protection to try to reorganize their finances, both personally and for Kimmel & Associates. The company recently came out of bankruptcy proceedings. But it remains unclear whether Kimmel will, or even would be allowed under terms of his bankruptcy emergence, to fulfill the remainder of his promise to WCU.
The Kimmels said they had $7.2 million in personal assets and $15.8 million in liabilities. Kimmel & Associates listed $2.1 million in assets and $7.2 million in debts, according to federal bankruptcy filings.
Kimmel did not return a phone message seeking comment, with an employee at his company declining on his behalf.
Construction industry crashes
Kimmel & Associates is an executive head hunting search firm founded in 1981 that is focused on the construction industry. Kimmel & Associates could at one time — and did — boast of a national client base of more than 100 companies.
Pairing a construction-management school at a university seeking national prominence in the field with a construction head-hunting firm must have seemed a match made in heaven — particularly given Kimmel's nearly $7 million dowry.
With an additional $3.5 million in matching state money secured as a result of Kimmel's generous gesture, WCU promised to create a first-class educational program.
"We expect this pledge, combined with additional public and private support, will result in a school that will place Western on par with the nation's finest institutions of higher education in preparing students for careers in construction management and related fields that are critical to the emerging economy of the state and the nation," Chancellor John Bardo said in a press conference at the time.
Kimmel generosity didn't stop with WCU. He and his company made contributions to numerous organizations in WNC, including the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville Art Museum, Buncombe County Medical Society's Project Access, Humane Society, Center for Diversity Education, Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministries, Meals on Wheels and the Fine Arts League of Asheville. Kimmel also established in 2004 a fund that provided $1,000 scholarships for students in construction fields.
"Giving and serving is the nucleus of the world, when the world is right," Kimmel noted in a company newsletter as he reflected on his donation to WCU.
That was then; this is now. The world, at least the world according to Kimmel & Associates, soon wasn't right.
Not even close: The housing boom, which seemed to promise ever-increasing profit margins to a construction industry left almost giddy by that prospect, instead crashed. Kimmel and his firm saw business dry up, virtually overnight, as builders were forced to put their measuring tapes up and hammers down.
In 2007, Kimmel & Associates was pulling in gross revenue of more than $19 million, bankruptcy documents show. That number dropped to $16.4 million in 2008, and by the following year, the company had dropped to $8.6 million.
Kimmel & Associate's gross monthly income in 2009 still amounted to $625,000. But, with total monthly expenses coming to $626,047, Kimmel's company was $1,047 a month in the red.
"Collapse of the construction industry" is the single reason given as a contributing factor in Kimmel & Associates fall into bankruptcy, according to documents.
School nuts & bolts
Today, the Kimmel School offers six degree programs in two departments: construction management and engineering and technology. There are state-of-the-art laboratory facilities; and about 300 students enrolled to take advantage of them.
The Kimmel contributions have gone toward endowments for distinguished professorships, student scholarships and program support for the construction management program, including allowing students and faculty to expand their participation in academic competitions, national conferences and industry meetings, said Bill Studenc, a WCU spokesman.
WCU landed a big-name, politically connected dean in March of 2008 when Robert K. "Bob" McMahan Jr. came on board. An astrophysicist, McMahan came to the university from his previous position as then North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley's senior adviser for science and technology.
It wasn't just WCU that Kimmel & Associates left in the lurch. UNC Asheville, where six of Joe and Cynthia Kimmel's seven children attended school, built the Kimmel Arena — the health and wellness center was the result of a $2-million pledge from the couple. Last year, a UNCA official told the Asheville Citizen-Times that half that amount had been received.
WCU optimistic
A full assessment of the Kimmel School financial outlook is difficult to ascertain. When asked directly whether the school would be given a different name to more accurately reflect the true giving-picture, Clifton Metcalf, WCU vice president for advancement and external affairs, responded in a written statement:
"The university has taken a long-range view in our relationship with Kimmel & Associates," he said. "We have been confident that Kimmel, one of the nation's premier firms in recruiting executives for the construction industry, would rebound as economic conditions improved generally and as construction activity, specifically, accelerated. That appears to be happening now, and there is no intention to rename the school."
Metcalf's assessment of Kimmel & Associates' ability to fulfill its pledge might be more hopeful than realistic.
The bankruptcy plan called for Kimmel and his wife to sell their $1.2 million in gold jewelry and 100 acres in Madison County, plus turn over to debtors the leases on two properties — the business itself on Page Avenue in Asheville, and a beach house in Folly Beach, S.C., used by customers and employees. Even leases on the company's fleet of cars were up for grabs.
Yates named Kimmel Professor of Construction Management
The only woman to head a college or university construction management department in the United States has joined the faculty of Western Carolina University as the Joe W. Kimmel Distinguished Professor of Construction Management.
J.K. Yates began her duties as Kimmel Professor and head of WCU's department of construction management June 15.
Prior to joining the WCU faculty, Yates served as chair and professor in the department of construction management and engineering at North Dakota State University.
WCU's Joe W. Kimmel Distinguished Professorship in Construction Management was endowed in 2006 through gifts provided by Asheville businessman Joe W. Kimmel.
$6.9 million gift to WCU largest in its history
As industry experts warn of a worsening international shortage of construction professionals, Western Carolina University and one of the nation's largest personnel recruiting firms are teaming up to boost the number of college graduates prepared for management positions in the construction industry.


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(Medicare payment) Reductions will be made over four years rather than imposed at once in 2010, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said yesterday in a statement. In July, the agency said it planned to slice $1.4 billion, or more than 10 percent, in payments for each of the two specialties, triggering what an advocate promised would be a "tooth and nail" battle.So while specialists won't be cut quite as bad, primary care will not see their efforts rewarded significantly either.
The administration argued that the lower reimbursements for specialists would make more dollars available for lower-paid non-specialists who can focus on preventing expensive, chronic illnesses. That would tame the growth in medical costs, one goal of President Barack Obama's effort to remake the U.S. system of care. Under yesterday's plan, family doctors and nurse practitioners would get half the proposed increase.
And yet, any real effort to look for simple ways to cut costs in health care system is ignored by Congress. One only has to look at the waste of health care dollars implicit in pharmaceutical direct-to-consumer advertising - and the fact that only two countries in the world (the U.S. and New Zealand) permit it - to see the hipocracy of the reform efforts underway. Instead, doctors are the easy target for "reform" as more and more ads for Viagra, Lipitor, and "P.A.D." flash accross our TV screens.
Sure it's not the only place costs can be cut. But how about ridding our system of such bloat before biting the hand that cares for us?


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Links I Shared on Twitter This Week: August 31
August 31, 2012
Here are some highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week.
RT @roomtoread: MA teen skips traditional bat mitzvah gifts, in favor of donations to @RoomtoRead Girls' Education program: http://bit.ly/NEFjRz
The We Believe in Picture Books! campaign launches @candlewick tomorrow (8/31), starting a year of daily videos http://ow.ly/dm77B
FYI: All Disney Learning #apps on sale for $1.99 from 8/29 - 9/12. I just downloaded Pooh's Birthday Surprise for Baby Bookworm
I am inspired by this post @NoVALibraryMom | Creating Reading Spaces At Home | http://ow.ly/dknsC #literacy #litrdup
I would think so. FTC rules 'Your Baby Can Read' ads deceptive http://ow.ly/djK4O via @MercuryNews
Top 10 Circulated Books of 2012: 5th-6th Grade | @100scopenotes http://ow.ly/diqOV #kidlit
Must-read for reviewers | @catagator on Stacked: Authenticity, Paying for Play & The Core of Libraries http://ow.ly/diqiV
November is Picture Book Month. Check out the website for the 2012 #PictureBookMonth Champions http://ow.ly/diizU #kidlit
#Kidlit fans, check out the August Carnival of Children's Literature at proseandkahn http://ow.ly/dhWrR #literacy
More from Gail Gauthier at Original Content about the whole purchasing online reviews thing. Sigh! http://ow.ly/dgPBP
Book Aunt: A Sad Time for Children's Books (authors/illustrators who passed away in 2012) http://ow.ly/dg7NB #kidlit
Is There a Best Age to Start School? It all depends http://ow.ly/dg4Ra @TrevorHCairney #literacy #parenting
Introducing Students to the Classroom Library by @donalynbooks @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/dg3pH #literacy #kidlit
RT @adlit: 6 tips for educational success from Middle School to High School: http://ow.ly/dcZ20 (via @NewsHourAmGrad) #AmGrad #education
Teachers have to reawaken older students' love of #reading @mwtnews http://ow.ly/dbDAp #literacy #litrdup
12 Great Books for Teen and Tween Outside Reading from @StorySnoops http://ow.ly/dbqpC #kidlit. I love outside reading!
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast | Board Books I Like Right Now: Featuring Agnese Baruzzi etc http://ow.ly/dbqE5 #kidlit
This post © 2012 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved.


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A fourth consecutive poll has found Democrat Elizabeth Warren ahead of Republican US Senator Scott Brown in a race that could tip the balance of power in the US Senate.
The new poll by WBUR found that 45 percent of likely voters back Warren, while Brown is the choice of 40 percent. The survey found that 12 percent were undecided. The poll of 507 likely voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, the radio station said in a statement.
Earlier this week, a Suffolk University/WHDH-TV (Channel 7) survey had Warren at 48 percent and Brown at 44 percent, a finding that reflected a shift toward Warren. In May, a Suffolk/WHDH survey had Brown at 48 percent and Warren at 47 percent.
The candidates are set for their first debate Thursday at the WBZ-TV studios. Additional debates are set for Oct. 1 in Lowell, Oct. 10 in Springfield, and Oct. 30 in Boston.
The WBUR poll was conducted Sept. 15-17 by the MassINC Polling Group. The poll found that Warren appears to be gaining the respect of prospective voters while Brown's standing has eroded. In the survey, 39 percent of likely voters believed Warren "will stand up for regular people when in the Senate," an improvement from 30 percent from a poll in February.
On the same question, Brown's support dropped to 29 percent from 33 percent.
In what the station described as a sign that Warren's campaign themes seem to be resonating with voters, the poll found that 35 percent of voters view Warren as the candidate who best "understands the needs of middle-class families." Only 27 percent said that phrase described Brown.
Brown drew strong support when voters were asked about the candidates' connections to Massachusetts. Forty-four percent of those surveyed said Brown, a Wakefield native who now lives in Wrentham, had strong ties to the state. For Warren, an Oklahoma native who moved to Massachusetts to teach at Harvard Law School, just 13 percent of the voters said she had a deep connection to Massachusetts.
While both campaigns have released negative ads this month, Brown is considered by 35 percent of the voters to be running a more positive campaign compared to 21 percent for Warren, the poll found.
Also this week, Springfield Republican survey, taken by the Western New England University Polling Institute, put Warren in the lead 50 percent to 44 percent, just outside the poll's 4.6 percentage point margin of error. Another survey, by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic leaning group, showed Warren at 48 percent and Brown at 46 percent, within that poll's 3.3 percentage point margin of error.


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Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 31: Matthew, Mark and Luke, Part I, tr. by John King, [1847-50], at sacred-texts.com
1. Forasmuch as many have undertaken to compose a narrative of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2. Even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word; 3. It seemed good to me also, having carefully examined all things from the beginning, to write to thee in detail, most excellent Theophilus, 4. That thou mayest acknowledge the certainty of those things whereof thou hast been instructed.
Luke is the only Evangelist who makes a preface to his Gospel, for the purpose of explaining briefly the motive which induced him to write. By addressing a single individual he may appear to have acted foolishly, instead of sounding the trumpet aloud, as was his duty, and inviting all men to believe. It appears, therefore, to be unsuitable that the doctrine which does not peculiarly belong to one person or to another, but is common to all, should be privately sent to his friend Theophilus. Hence some have been led to think that Theophilus is an appellative noun, and is applied to all godly persons on account of their love of God; but the epithet which is joined to it is inconsistent with that opinion. Nor is there any reason for dreading the absurdity which drove them to adopt such an expedient. For it is not less true that Paul's doctrine belongs to all, though some of his Epistles were addressed to certain cities, and others to certain men. Nay, we must acknowledge, if we take into account the state of those times, that Luke adopted a conscientious and prudent course. There were tyrants on every hand who, by terror and alarm, were prepared to obstruct the progress of sound doctrine. This gave occasion to Satan and his ministers for spreading abroad the clouds of error, by which the pure light would be obscured. Now, as the great body of men cared little about maintaining the purity of the Gospel, and few considered attentively the inventions of Satan or the amount of danger that lurked under such disguises, every one who excelled others by uncommon faith, or by extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, was the more strongly bound to do his utmost, by care and industry, for preserving the doctrine of godliness pure and uncontaminated from every corruption. Such persons were chosen by God to be the sacred keepers of the law, by whom the heavenly doctrine committed to them should be honestly handed down to posterity. With this view therefore, Luke dedicates his Gospel to Theophilus, that he might undertake the faithful preservation of it; and the same duty Paul enjoins and recommends to Timothy, (2 Tim. 1:14, 2 Tim. 3:14.)
1. Forasmuch as many. He assigns a reason for writing which, one would think, ought rather to have dissuaded him from writing. To compose a history, which had already employed many authors, was unnecessary labor, at least if they had faithfully discharged their duty. But no accusation of imposture, or carelessness, or any other fault, is in the slightest degree insinuated. It looks, therefore, as if he were expressing a resolution to do what had been already done. I reply, though he deals gently with those who had written before him, he does not altogether approve of their labors. He does not expressly say that they had written on matters with which they were imperfectly acquainted, but by laying claim to certainty as to the facts, he modestly denies their title to full and unshaken confidence. It may be objected that, if they made false statements, they ought rather to have been severely censured. I reply again, they may not have been deeply in fault; they may have erred more from want of consideration than from malice; and, consequently, there would be no necessity for greater fierceness of attack. And certainly there is reason to believe that these were little more than historical sketches which, though comparatively harmless at the time, would afterwards, if they had not been promptly counteracted, have done serious injury to the faith. But it is worthy of remark that, in applying this remedy through Luke to unnecessary writings, God had a wonderful design in view of obtaining, by universal consent, the rejection of others, and thus securing undivided credit to those which reflect brightly his adorable majesty. There is the less excuse for those silly people, by whom disgusting stories, under the name of Nicodemus, or some other person, are, at the present day, palmed upon the world.
Are most surely believed among us The participle πεπληροφορημένα, which Luke employs, denotes things fully ascertained, and which do not admit of doubt. The old translator has repeatedly fallen into mistakes about this word, and through that ignorance has given us a corrupted sense of some very beautiful passages. One of these occurs in the writings of Paul, where he enjoins every man to be fully persuaded in his own mind, (Ro 14:5,) that conscience may not hesitate and waver, tossed to and fro (Eph 4:14) by doubtful opinions. Hence, too, is derived the word πληροφορία, which he erroneously renders fullness, while it denotes that strong conviction springing from faith, in which godly minds safely rest. There is still, as I have said, an implied contrast; for, by claiming for himself the authority of a faithful witness, he destroys the credit of others who give contrary statements.
Among us 17 has the same meaning as with us. 18 He appears to make faith rest on a weak foundation, its relation to men, while it ought to rest on the Word of God only; and certainly the full assurance (πληροφορία) of faith is ascribed to the sealing of the Spirit, (1Th 1:5; Heb 10:22.) I reply, if the Word of God does not hold the first rank, faith will not be satisfied with any human testimonies, but, where the inward confirmation of the Spirit has already taken place, it allows them some weight in the historical knowledge of facts. By historical knowledge I mean that knowledge which we obtain respecting events, either by our own observation or by the statement of others. For, with respect to the visible works of God, it is equally proper to listen to eye-witnesses as to rely on experience. Besides, those whom Luke follows were not private authors, but were also ministers of the Word By this commendation he exalts them above the rank of human authority; for he intimates that the persons from whom he received his information had been divinely authorized to preach the Gospel. Hence, too, that security which he shortly afterwards mentions, and which, if it does not rest upon God, may soon be disturbed. There is great weight in his denominating those from whom he received his Gospel ministers of the Word; for on that ground believers conclude that the witnesses are beyond all exception, as the Lawyers express it, and cannot lawfully be set aside.
Erasmus, who has borrowed from Virgil 19 a phrase used in his version, did not sufficiently consider the estimation and weight due to a Divine calling. Luke does not talk in a profane style, but enjoins us in the person of his friend Theophilus to keep in view the command of Christ, and to hear with reverence the Son of God speaking through his Apostles. It is a great matter that he affirms them to have been eye-witneses, but, by calling them ministers, he takes them out of the common order of men, that our faith may have its support in heaven and not in earth. In short, Luke's meaning is this: "that, since thou now hast those things committed faithfully to writing which thou hadst formerly learned by oral statements, thou mayest place a stronger reliance on the received doctrine." It is thus evident that God has employed every method to prevent our faith from being suspended on the doubtful and shifting opinions of men. There is the less room for excusing the ingratitude of the world, which, as if it openly preferred the uncertainty arising out of vague and unfounded reports, turns from so great a Divine favor with loathing. But let us attend to the remarkable distinction which our Lord has laid down, that foolish credulity may not insinuate itself under the name of faith. Meanwhile, let us allow the world to be allured, as it deserves, by the deceitful baits of foolish curiosity, and even to surrender itself willingly to the delusions of Satan.
3. Having carefully examined all things The old translator has it, having followed out all things; 20 and the Greek verb παρακολουθεῖν is taken metaphorically from those who tread in the footsteps of others, that nothing may escape them. So that Luke intended to express his close and laborious investigation, just as Demosthenes employs the same word, when, in examining an embassy against which he brings an accusation, he boasts of his diligence to have been such, that he perceived every thing that had been done as well as if he had been a spectator.
Quorum pars magna fui. — Virg. AEn.


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I've changed my blogging destination and now post my insights at www.tstoryteller.com - please visit me there.
Please? :)
I've changed my blogging destination and now post my insights at www.tstoryteller.com - please visit me there.
Please? :)
Here's the box art and magazine ad for the UK release of Mindflesh. I think they've done a great job. Interesting how different it is from the international cover.
I've been out shooting footage for LowLifes using my Sony HDR-XR500 - all handheld, in bright sunlight and night time.
I have to say I love the camera. It's very easy to use, easy to switch from auto to manual focus (which is the thing I do most often) and so quick to pop out the memory card and transfer the rushes to the computer.The picture quality is really nice.
The one thing that's a pain in the neck is the AVCHD files because although they're nice and small, that file compression plays havoc with Premiere and After Effects. It "works" but it's slow and troublesome. It's been acceptable for friend's wedding videos and my travelogs but now I'm doing proper work I needed a better solution.
To cut a long story short, here's the workflow:
(a) download/buy the CineForm NeoScene
(b) download TexRep
(c) Use cineform to convert all .m2ts files into .avi
(d) I'd already started editing in Premiere with the native AVCHD files so I had to replace them with the .avi files. Use TexRep to do a search and replace and swap ".m2ts" for "avi" - works perfectly!
I stumbled on this ebook graphic novel and thought it was pretty cool. Hence I'm sharing it here :)
For anyone who hasn't also checked out The Light from Dead Stars, it's here too:
I thought it was about time I gave an update on the Lowlifes project. Here are Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
So… the novella is finished! (fanfare please). I had three draft copies printed using QOOP to check the look and feel and to have something physical to give away to potential partners.
The writer, Simon Wood, is now finishing up the webisode scripts and then I'll go out to shoot them during August.
The webisodes will all be voiced by an actor playing the role of private detective Lauren Ortega (30s, American woman of Mexican parents). Any actor interested in auditioning for the role – which is voice-over only at this time – should be resident in the San Francisco Bay Area and should upload an audition piece to the LowLifes Facebook page. It'll be a non-union paid gig and probably 1 to 2 days work at a mutually convenient time during late August-September.
The big step forward for the project is that we're now working in partnership with the charity Coalition on Homelessness in San Francisco (www.cohsf.org). As part of the collaboration there will now be a formal transmedia activism component added to the core three-platform entertainment.
For an excellent primer and "how to" on transmedia activism, please visit this site. What I'm presenting here is not quite as it's prescribed by the site's authors (Lina Srivastava and Vicki Callahan) but I have borrowed a good deal of inspiration from them.
The project now looks like this:
I'll also be advising CoHSF on a much needed social media and website make-over to better capture support and donations.
There has been some talk of an ARG but it depends if my Transmedia Storyteller platform is up and running in time because without it there'll be too much work for the resources we have.
Bridging Fiction and Fact
A fictional website will be created for a story character called Joseph "Holy Joe" Rawlings who pays homeless people to report to him UFO sightings. Working with non-actors who have been helped by CoHSF, we shall create several fake "promotional videos" and video testimonies for the Holy Joe site. The people in the videos will improvise their experiences of working for Holy Joe around a loose story outline and combine it with their real-world experiences of fighting homelessness. Links on the site will ask viewers to find out more about the people in the videos. This will take them to a special landing page at the CoHSF site where the same non-actors will explain what's going on and why your money is needed for the charity.
We have some quite detailed ideas for what will be in these videos on both sites but I'm being a little vague at this time until we get a little further into the project ;)
And in summary…
Here's the presentation I gave to the charity explaining Lowlifes and how transmedia activism can work for them. I'm totally indebted to the kindness and foresight of the charity directors for allowing us this chance to work together and fight homelessness in San Francisco.
If there are other homeless charities in the USA or indeed around the world feel free to get in touch with me because I have several ideas for how we might roll out the concept to help others beyond SF.
Transmedia Activism And LowLifes
View more presentations from Zen Films.
Here's a presentation I created for a local client that wants to use transmedia for the benefit of their clients. It's goal is to explain the power of transmedia in engaging consumers in a storyworld and how it's different to product placement and branded entertainment.
Specifically I use an ARG (alternative reality game) to illustrate how it can work with an integrated marketing communications plan.
I had to hold off making the document public but now it's out! I'd be interested to hear thoughts from anyone working in this area. Hope it doesn't horrify anyone :)
View more presentations from Zen Films.
This is a quick post to join the discussion that's happening across Brooke Thompson's blog and Christy Dena's. I'll expand on it more later at Culture Hacker, most probably next week some time.
My suggestion for naming types of transmedia projects is given in the diagram below.
The major difference with my approach is that the classification is independent of the motives or timing of the development. Does it matter?
By "Narrative Space" I mean the story occupies the same point in the 3D space of this next diagram. Basically, has the same characters, locations and time frame.
Delighted to have been interviewed by Jawbone.tv
It's principally about the how transmedia is shaping up but there's also news about the social, interactive, multi-platform tool I'm developing for folks seeking to deliver transmedia experiences.I managed to catch a glimpse of Mongoliad in operation last night at Dorkbot in SF.
I have to say it was more impressive than I'd hoped and I think it's going to be very big. Not only the storyworld but also the publishing platform that underlies it (which goes by the name PULP).
Rather than me waffle on, check out this presentation from the evening and then head over to Facebook group :)
The photos are from SF App Show - I took them from the Mongoliad Facebook page.


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More than 200 employers attending 2013 All-University Career Fair
Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013
MANHATTAN -- Prospective employers are showing a strong interest in Kansas State University students.
Representatives from more than 200 companies, industries and agencies are registered for the All-University Career Fair, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, and Wednesday, Sept. 25, at Bramlage Coliseum.
The fair is for Kansas State University students, but is also open to members of the Manhattan community.
Cerner, Koch Industries and State Street are among the employers who will attend the fair. A full list of participating employers can be found by going to http://www.k-state.edu/ces and selecting "My CES Account." After logging in, click the "Career Fairs and Events" tab, and then select "Career Fair" to get an up-to-date list of registered employers.
With increasing job competition, it's important that career fair attendees dress professionally and bring multiple copies of their resume, according to Angela Hayes, the All-University Career Fair chair for Kansas State University's career and employment services.
Some employers may offer qualified students next-day interviews, which will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 25 and 26 in the K-State Student Union Ballroom.
A shuttle bus will run between the Union and Bramlage Coliseum every 20 minutes -- from 10:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. -- both days of the career fair.
Career and employment services hosts an event prior to the fair for students who may not have the funds to purchase professional attire. The Career Closet will be available in Holtz Hall from noon to 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20.


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After a successful first round of the 2013 season, boasting almost 30 UTVs, plus strong Unlimited Mini Trucks and Full Size Trucks classes, the series looks to carry the momentum. Round 2 of the Central Oregon Off-Road Race Park season to be held on June 29th will see more berm busting action at the base of the beautiful Cascade mountains famous for it's pristine lakes, fly fishing on the Deschutes river, and hitting the winter slopes at Mt. Bachelor ski resort.
While the racing is sure to be heated, late June in Central Oregon is probably one of the nicest places to be racing during this time of year. With temperatures likely to be in the 80's, racers from the southwest should consider a summer roadtrip to capture a glimpse of what Central Oregon off-road short course racing has to offer.
COORP has also announced a new UTV/SxS 800cc or less class for stock and unlimited UTV's, which should create some intense battles.